Sports Academy: Take a break, but keep spring in your step

Colin Elmes, Director of TSS Academy with kids practising their skills at his soccer academy in Richmond on Friday, November 16, 2012. Spring break should be just that — a break. With some young athletes training as much as four or five times a week, spending March break away from the game is good for both physical and mental health.Photo by
Les Bazso

Spring break should be just that — a break.

With some young athletes training as much as four or five times a week, spending March break away from the game is good for both physical and mental health.

“Sometimes we forget that too much is just as bad as too little,” said TSS Academy’s Daryl Ware-Lane, who gave his elite girls team a week off from the game.

“It really is a time for them to rest their bodies,” he said.

Marpole Soccer Club’s technical director Dino Anastopulos expects the same from his players, who have three weeks off until the next session starts up mid-April. He believes that time should be used to “reboot.”

“Once the league season ends, I like to give the kids in our club a break,” he said. “Especially in younger children I think it’s very healthy — physically, mentally, psychologically — to just go away from the sport and come back hungry for the game.”

“You want to entice children to enjoy the game, to come looking for more.”

But that time away from soccer doesn’t mean a break from physical activity altogether.

“Relax, but find an alternative to keep active,” said Anastopulos. “Be it swimming, biking, tennis ... whatever other alternative they find enjoyable.”

Cross training further allows players to work on different techniques and different muscle groups.

“It’s healthy mentally for them and for their body to partake in another sport,” said Anastopulos.

But while they’re encouraged to stay away from the organized team structure they’re used to at regular weekly sessions, it’s still important to continue to work on technique.

“We expect them to stay away from competitive practices like games,” said Ware-Lane. “(But) we like them to keep active with a ball at their feet.”

And TSS Academy offers the perfect tool with their 1,000 touches video, available on TSSAcademy.com. The short video walks players through a quick session of ball manipulations to do entirely on their own, with touches adding up to 1,000 in as little as 15 minutes. The exercises range from toe taps back and forth, to tap and turns to drag overs.

“Fifteen minutes a day of technical work, working purely on technique, becoming confident on the ball — those are the best things,” said Ware-Lane. “As soon as you’re comfortable on the ball, everything becomes easier.”

And lastly, just playing soccer for fun is another way to take a break from the game.

“Playing the game in not just a regular structured environment,” explained B.C. Soccer’s manager of soccer science, Markus Reinkens. “Going to the park and playing as opposed to being in a training session within the club. If players spent more time doing that, it’d be better off for all of them.”

“We’re in a day and age where parents are pushing and want everything structured,” added Anastopulos. “Everything’s too rigid at such a young age.”

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